


The Clean Up Date

by Selenay



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: F/F, First Dates, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 20:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8341390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenay/pseuds/Selenay
Summary: “It’s whatever you want it to be,” Kate said quietly, her usual note of mild amusement absent. “It can just be dinner, if you want.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [paranoidangel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paranoidangel/gifts).



Sarah Jane looked over her shoulder and winced. The thing barrelling towards them was big, green, and much angrier than she’d anticipated. She hoped Clyde and Luke had set up the trap they’d been working on when she last saw them, or she and Rani were going to be in serious trouble.

“Oi, frog face,” Rani shouted. “Is that all you’ve got?”

The big green creature roared and picked up its pace. Sarah Jane put on an extra burst of speed and caught up to Rani.

“You can stop insulting it now,” she said, between gasps. “We’ve got its attention.”

Rani grinned. Oh, to be young again, with fast legs and no concept of the amount of danger she was in. Sarah Jane sometimes envied the kids, even though she wouldn’t actually want to do her teen years again. She liked who she was now, but when she could hear a creature slobbering a few feet behind her and she could barely breathe...well, anyone would envy Rani with her long legs and boundless energy.

The creature roared again as they rounded the corner and finally saw the door ahead. Rani whooped. Sarah Jane didn’t have the breath to, but the sight made the burning in her legs fade a little and she pushed on. 

Rani hit the doors first, shoving them open with reckless strength, and Sarah Jane plunged after her into another corridor. As soon as they were through, Clyde shouted a warning and Sarah Jane dived for the floor, relieved to see Rani flattening herself on the ground at the same time. A beam of something hot and electric zipped through the air just above Sarah Jane’s shoulders and the air crackled around her.

A moment later, the creature made a surprised blatting sound and then it exploded. The sound was wet and disgusting, and Sarah Jane grimaced when she felt something gooey and warm hit the back of her neck.

“That was amazing!” Clyde shouted, voice filled with glee.

“That was horrible,” Rani said, raising her head and putting a hand gingerly to her head. “Urgh. Gross.”

Sarah Jane rolled and sat up, examining the pile of bubbling muck that had once been a Mellentian Swamp Lizard. “That was--“

She broke off as the doors at the other end of the corridor swung open and a familiar figure in a long beige coat emerged.

Oh, good. Why was she always covered in goo when UNIT arrived?

“Good afternoon,” Kate Stewart said, a small smile lurking at the corners of her mouth. “I see we arrived a little too late. Again.”

Sarah Jane scrambled to her feet with more speed than grace. “Hello, Kate. Here to take all the glory after we saved the day?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Here to save you from the clean-up and explanations, it seems.”

“Yes, well.” Sarah Jane was uncomfortably aware that something was dripping from her hair, down her back. “Thank you for that.”

“All part of the service,” Kate said briskly. “Now, do any of you need medical attention?”

Sarah Jane spun around to check on the children, and her foot slipped in a puddle of...something oozy. She wobbled and might have fallen, except Kate was there, holding her up with more strength than Sarah Jane would have expected. Kate didn’t say anything, just kept an arm around Sarah Jane’s waist until her footing was stable, but the air caught in Sarah Jane’s throat and she felt breathless for a moment.

It was probably the lingering stench from the lizard remains. Who cared if it was already dissipating? Sarah Jane’s nose was sensitive.

She stepped away quickly and eyed Kate’s coat with dismay. A thick smear of green gunk was already soaking into the beautiful--probably expensive--wool.

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry,” Sarah Jane said. “Your coat. I don’t think swamp lizard guts dry clean.”

Kate peered down and made a face, but her eyes were dancing when she looked up. “I’m sure UNIT can afford to buy me a new coat. Damaged in the line of duty and all that. But if you really feel bad about it, you could buy me dinner.”

Sarah Jane’s mouth answered before her brain caught up. “I’d love to buy you dinner.”

Kate smiled. “Wonderful. Tomorrow evening? I’m afraid I’ll be busy with the paperwork from this tonight. And before you start apologising for that, too, this paperwork is much more inviting than the budget meeting I’m currently supposed to be in.”

“I wasn’t going to apologise for causing paperwork,” Sarah Jane said. “The Doctor never does.”

“I’ve noticed,” Kate said. “Are you sure none of you are injured?”

Clyde sidled up, holding his thumb out. “I might have hit this with a hammer.”

“Ah.” Kate looked at him gravely. “Do you need Doctor Nib to look at it?”

“Is she the pretty one with green eyes?” Clyde winced. “Not that I’ve noticed or anything.”

“He’s the tall one with glasses. Doctor Renault is on leave this week.”

Clyde stuffed both hands deep in his pockets. “It feels fine now, actually. Come on, Sarah Jane, aren’t you supposed to be making sure we get home in time on a school night?”

He walked away without a backward glance, brushing past two black-clad soldiers as they opened the doors and ignoring their curious looks. 

Luke, always polite, smiled at Kate. “Thank you for your help.”

Rani waved and followed Luke as he rushed after Clyde, leaving Sarah Jane to make her goodbyes under the curious gaze of two waiting UNIT men.

Kate’s smile was crooked and perfect. “Seven o’clock tomorrow?”

“It’s a...” Sarah Jane trailed off, frowning. They flirted a little, sometimes, but did that make dinner a date, or just dinner between two friends who sometimes indulged in flirtatious banter they couldn’t have with anyone else?

“It’s whatever you want it to be,” Kate said quietly, her usual note of mild amusement absent. “It can just be dinner, if you want.”

“I think...” Sarah Jane gave herself a mental shake. She was starting to sound like one of the children. “It’s a date.”

The smile Kate sent was warm enough to make the breath catch in her throat again. “Good.”

***

Of course, telling herself not to behave like one of the kids and actually following that through were two completely different things, which was why Sarah Jane tried three different outfits and two shades of lipstick in the half hour before she left for dinner. It was why her stomach churned with butterflies and she had to glare at herself in the mirror, giving herself a stern pep talk, before she finally hurried downstairs to check on Luke and Clyde.

Leaving a pair of teenaged boys along in a house for the evening would be an invitation to disaster anywhere else. Most groups of teenaged boys did not include Luke and didn’t have Mr Smith watching over them. Sarah Jane was more worried about them accidentally discovering a new alien species in her back garden than having any kind of wild debauched party.

“We’ll call you if a spaceship lands on the roof,” Clyde said, waving a slice of pizza.

“Have a nice evening, Mum,” Luke said, as he kissed her cheek.

Sarah Jane squeezed his shoulders and kissed his temple--when did he get too tall to kiss on the top of his head?--before hurrying out.

The restaurant Kate had chosen was close enough to walk to. Sarah Jane tilted her head back to look at the stars just before she pushed the door open, unable to say what she wished for except that it was important. Tonight was important. She wasn’t superstitious enough to wish on a star, but the reassuring solidity of that glimpse of the heavens gave her hope.

Once, she’d gazed at the surface of a star from the door of the TARDIS. It was impossible to feel anything mystical about them after watching the roiling mass thousands of miles below her toes, but she was human, and until they reached the stars on their own, humanity would keep gazing up and hoping.

Kate stood as the waiter led Sarah Jane to their table, and suddenly, Sarah Jane was glad she’d dressed up. This wasn’t Kate Stewart, Head of UNIT in front of her. She wasn’t even Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, the daughter of one of Sarah Jane’s oldest friends. This was Kate, the beautiful woman who had flirted with her for months until alien goo gave them an excuse to do what they both wanted.

The smile Kate sent her took Sarah Jane’s breath away. She was glad the waiter cleared his throat as he pointedly held out a chair, because Kate’s smile had made her forget what to do for a moment.

The waiter put a menu in her hand after she sat and marched away without a backward glance. Sarah Jane opened it and stared down without seeing a word. An awkward silence descended.

“I heard a rumour today,” Kate said.

Sarah Jane peeked over the top of her menu. “Oh?”

Kate didn’t look up from studying the wine list. “Well, I read it, really. It’s fascinating what they recorded in the old files.”

“Should I worry about what you’ve been reading?”

A smile curved Kate’s lips, but she didn’t look up. “That depends on what you think they wrote about you. So far, it’s all been highly complimentary.”

Sarah Jane snorted. “I doubt that.”

“No, really,” Kate said. “I’m not sure they meant it that way, but you never took no for an answer and you dug for answers even when people told you not to. Those are excellent qualities, in my opinion. Even my father though so, occasionally.”

“When he wasn’t shouting at me about the trouble I’d caused.”

Kate shrugged one shoulder. “One person’s trouble is another person’s investigative journalism.”

“And I don’t seem to have grown out of it.”

“No, you don’t.” Kate rolled her eyes. “In fact, you seem to be teaching a whole new generation how to do it.”

“I try to make sure they don’t get in too deep,” Sarah Jane said. “I never imagined I’d be doing this. I wanted to carry on the Doctor’s work, in my own way, but it was always supposed to be on my terms, without putting anyone else in danger. Now I understand how he felt every time Harry, or me, or whoever else we were with wandered off and fell into a new problem.”

Kate chuckled. “It’s payback time?”

“I suppose it is.”

“Still, UNIT has your back if you really need us,” Kate said. “You know that, don’t you?”

Sarah Jane put her menu down and leaned forward. “UNIT seems to have my back before I even know I need you, lately. Sometimes when we don’t need you at all.”

“But you have to admit, it was much easier for us to do the clean-up yesterday.”

“I’m sure you have more important things to do,” Sarah Jane said. “You can’t keep chasing me and the children, waiting for us to need you.”

Kate leaned forward; her hand rested barely an inch from Sarah Jane’s. It would only take a small movement, not much more than a twitch, to make their fingers touch.

“But you bring us such wonderful new messes to clean up!” Kate smiled, but it faded after a moment. “Would you call us if you needed us?”

“Yes,” Sarah Jane said immediately. “If we really needed you, if we found something we really couldn’t manage on our own, I’d call you. But Mellentian Swamp Lizards are hardly something UNIT needs to get involved with. Even ones that size. In fact, I’m starting to wonder how it got to Earth in the first place, and why it got left behind. Usually the Mellentians are very careful about letting their pets off their leashes.”

Kate coughed. “Ah.”

“Ah?”

“There was a crash a few weeks ago. Off the coast of Norfolk.”

Sarah Jane smile. “So, really, we were cleaning up after you.”

Kate tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I suppose you were.”

Another silence fell, but this time Sarah Jane had no menu to hide behind. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from Kate, couldn’t stop staring into Kate’s eyes, and she didn’t even want to. That was the strange thing: for the first time in...longer than Sarah Jane could remember, she wanted to stay exactly where she was.

A warm finger brushed the side of Sarah Jane’s hand. Kate’s finger, feather-light and tentative, so different from the bold warmth in Kate’s eyes. Which one was the truth--the easy amusement, or the nervous touch?

Sarah Jane’s heart was beating too fast. She flicked her gaze down, just for a moment, long enough to see Kate start to withdraw her hand.

That wasn’t right. This was a date, they’d both agreed, and if Sarah Jane allowed the moment to pass, it might never come again.

She reached out and put her hand over Kate’s, holding her there lightly but with clear intent.

Kate’s quickly indrawn breath was soft, but Sarah Jane heard it, saw the slight flare of her pupils and the moment her smile became a little more real. Under Sarah Jane’s palm, she felt Kate turn her hand, fingers brushing skin lightly and sending shivers up her arm. It was such a simple touch, but more thrilling than a dozen disappointing kisses, and Sarah Jane smiled as they twined their fingers together.

They might have sat like that for a moment or an hour, Sarah Jane couldn’t tell, before someone cleared their throat awkwardly and asked, “Can I take your order?”

Even that interruption couldn’t ruin the mood, and Sarah Jane realised she was holding in laughter as they ordered. From the twinkle in Kate’s eyes, she wasn’t the only one.

They talked quietly through the meal, about everything and nothing: politics, gardening, Sontaran experiments and the creature Sarah Jane had seen once, many years ago, that convinced her some of the stories about flower fairies might have a core of truth.

As they left the restaurant, Kate took her hand again, and they began walking back to Sarah Jane’s house without discussion. Sarah Jane tipped her head back to glance up at the stars and say a quiet thank you.

At the end of her driveway, Sarah Jane glanced across the street to Rani’s house and suppressed a wince. The curtain twitched.

“Is something wrong?” Kate asked.

Sarah Jane started to shake her head, but she stopped. “People are so nosy sometimes.”

Kate chuckled. “Pots and kettles? I thought investigative journalism was all about being nosy.”

“It’s about the right kind of nosy,” Sarah Jane said.

“Ah.” A mischievous smile appeared. “Does that mean we can’t have a goodnight kiss?”

Sarah Jane glanced over the road again and squared her shoulders, before she pulled Kate into the shadow from a tree.

“Ah,” Kate said, again. “You’re right, they’ll never see us here.”

It was difficult to resist the urge to roll her eyes, but Sarah Jane did it, mostly. At least it was dark, so Kate couldn’t see her. Not so dark that Sarah Jane couldn’t lean in and steal a kiss, though. A kiss that started gentle, a brush of lips, and became something more in a moment. A kiss as beautiful, as thrilling, as that first brush of fingers on a restaurant table, but so much better.

Sarah Jane’s heart was hammering in her chest when they slowly drew apart. She smiled--

\--and caught a glimpse of the house behind Kate, where a blue glow was pulsing through the roof tiles. Her heart thumped again, for different reasons this time.

Kate must have sensed something, perhaps in the new tension radiating from Sarah Jane’s body, because she turned her head and the blue glow reflected in her eyes as they widened.

“Does your house always do that?” Kate asked.

“Not usually,” Sarah Jane said.

“You should probably...”

Sarah Jane took a breath and made a face. “I should.”

Reluctantly, she stepped back from Kate and into the glow from a nearby street light. The curtain in Rani’s house didn’t twitch, thankfully. At least Gita wouldn’t see the pulsing light in the attic. There was a pressure feeling in the air, ebbing and subsiding in time with the light, which didn’t seem like a good sign at all.

Sarah Jane took a couple of steps towards the house, but she stopped when Kate called her name.

Kate stood under the street light, her hands deep in the pockets of her long coat. “You’ll call if you need us?”

Sarah Jane smiled. “Absolutely. And I’ll call after it’s all over. Do you like ballet?”

“Hate it,” Kate said. “But for you, I could learn to like it.”

“It’s a date,” Sarah Jane said, and headed home to save the world.


End file.
